Update on the job search

I should have posted this BEFORE I posted about Ikea, but it's all good. I did add some pictures below, though. Beware this is a long post!

As far as jobs go, I've been lucky to have had three pretty good prospects. The first one I interviewed for was Branch-Smith in Fort Worth. I went back for a second interview and then they offered me the job. At the time I told them I couldn't take it because I had another interview at the medical company in Dallas. Really I was pretty hesitant and didn't feel great about the Branch-Smith job. I got a call from the place in Dallas after my first interview and they really wanted to bring me back but were concerned because they weren't scheduled to hire anyone until January because it's not in the budgets. I set up a second interview with my contact there and she was going to check with management to see if the position could be filled before January. Her answer was a definite no. I was really glad she was upfront and honest with me. I was their top candidate, but I need something a lot sooner.

Meanwhile, BranchSmith has been calling me nearly ever other day. It's insane. I had a long talk with the Director of Operations on Wednesday of this week and was honest with him about what my concerns are. He agreed completely that I had pretty solid concerns, but didn't want to promise me anything he couldn't follow through with. I told them I'd get back with them after my other interviews. They said they would wait for me and not make any other hiring decision till I heard from them. Weird.

Then my sister, Suzy, works in Burleson for the school district and they are hiring for a webmaster/graphic designer. I interviewed with them on Friday and it went really well. For some reason after Suzy first told me about this it has been nagging me at the back of my mind that it's something I should consider. The hours are way earlier than I'm used to, but the vacations are unbeatable and I'd have way more time with my family. If they can match or get close enough to my salary I'll probably take that job. Ultimately, I was their only candidate, but Evan (Suzy's boss and the one I interviewed with) said he didn't mind having only one candidate if they were high quality. On my way home from the interview I just got this pretty overwhelming feeling that I shouldn't take the other job and that I should work in Burleson. John agreed and we'd talked about the other job at BS and it would be a lot of money, but also a lot of overtime. Suzy made the comment that sometimes Heavenly Father doesn't want us to make too much money because of the things it can lead to. John and I had discussed that if I was making a lot more money it would be harder for me to quit in a couple of years when I can stay home.

So Monday I will call and talk to Burleson and let them know my thoughts and see what they can do about salary. It will be a lot of fun to come to a place with no graphic designer and help them redesign their websites. It's a great opportunity and will be interesting and fun to work with my sister and my nephew too. I'll keep everyone posted on what happens next week!